THE TREND THAT ALL MLB FANS SHOULD BE WORRIED ABOUT!

Baseball is hurting right now, literally. Even if you aren't a Yankee fan (but still here reading this, thanks) it's more likely than not that your team is still ailing with some sort of injury right now. There's an ugly trend happening right now that will likely have more complications than we have ever realized before. Sad thing is....there may be no end in sight.

It's still very early in the 2021 season and the injuries for a lot of teams are mounting and meanwhile the offense is tanking and the no hitters are increasing. Not the most fun time to be a baseball fan right now. I love a good pitching duel, but not when you have less offense and more injuries. Add in any Covid absences thanks to this on-going pandemic and it gets even more hairy.

We all have heard the saying that "good teams find a way to win no matter what" and that's still true. The Yankees have enjoyed a nice win streak and they have been without big names like usual injury suspects Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Hicks, but they've also given extra rest to Aaron Judge when needed too.

And what about Luke Voit? He's going back on the Injured list now with a grade 2 right oblique strain, read more HERE. We also sit and wait to hear more information on Corey Kluber. But what if these injuries keep mounting? If it does, it will eventually make it hard for teams to put together a team, competitive or not.

Right now the Yankees have 9 players on the Injured list, not counting Kluber who is still listed day-to-day but will change. There are several teams out there who are favored for postseason berth or even world series contenders that are in a worse spot then we are. Check this out....

Dodgers:  14 players on the Injured list, 5 considered day-to-day
Padres:    13 players on the Injured list, 6 considered day-to-day
Mets:  17 players on the Injured list, 5 considered day-to-day

Those are just a few, I'm sure there are others. So why does this matter? It puts the 2020 pandemic shortened season in focus. Most of the people that teams are filling in from didn't play last season. The Minor league seasons were cancelled last year. Some of thee teams are running out of call-up candidates that they used last season as part of the "taxi squads." Those players at least saw some action, a lot of these guys have literally lost a season and are still getting back in the swing of things. The pool for replenishment for these teams is already drying up, especially the Mets.

And think about how this will affect the trade deadline. The Yankees are already thinking about operating within an approximate $3 million budget before going into the next tax bracket. That's already a lot to deal with but if this continues and multiple teams need bodies that are just healthy enough to play.....that gets messier.

Baseball teams are going to need to change the way they condition. I don't believe this is a result of a shortened 2020 season at all. This isn't about playing 162 games now compared to 60 last year. Teams need to adjust their conditioning. Muscle tone is important, but lay off the constant use of the weights and start looking at agility and stretching more. Stop weight training every day year round. 

Baseball has some serious adjustments to make, that should've been made a long time ago. This isn't a good trend for baseball. It will only make baseball unwatchable.

  --Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

     BYB Managing Editor

    Twitter: @nyprincessj